DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - Wet conditions in May are the perfect breeding grounds for mosquitoes and gnats.
Many in central Illinois are complaining of welt-like swollen bites. Our very own Dawn Sterling was a victim after she was bit near her eye.
She went searching for answers. She found the apparent culprit to be a female buffalo gnat. Females are the only ones who bite.
"Gnats are similar to mosquitoes," said Jason Probus, field operations manager with Macon Mosquito Abatement. "The female gnat needs that blood meal to produce young. They're seeking a host (for) a blood meal and they have that coagulant in their saliva just like a mosquito would. That's kind of what makes that itching feeling."
The owner of Mosquito Joe's in Springfield, Michelle Sommers, says buffalo gnat bites cause swelling. She also told Sterling they swarm the head and neck areas, as they are attracted to CO2. Sommers adds there's no real way to treat them because they hover and insect repellent does not work to repel them.
So what can you do if you get bit?
"Maybe a cold compress," said Chelsea Oberheim, ER nurse for St. Mary's Hospital. "Do some Benadryl, maybe over the counter hydrocortisone cream to help decrease inflammation and swelling. But if it gets really bad, say (it) changes vision, anything like that, something looks infected or drainage, definitely see a physician.”
The owner of Mosquito Joe's says the good news is buffalo gnats are seasonal. There are only two more weeks left before they go away. She also says buffalo gnats don’t come out in the dark.
Probus says people should remove standing water on their property and use insect repellent to help stop breeding and biting.
